Since Season 8 brings back metal detecting mission introduced in Season 1, you "need" to use the Metal Detector Module in those new missions. However to be able to install it, you first need to unlock it on Imandra map, which can be only accessed when another DLC is bought or via co-op, not an ideal position to put players in, especially when they want to only focus on Season 8.

Belozersk offers no ways of acquiring Metal Detector Module other than doing another region for that, so I'd propose to have additional contract before any of the metal detecting starts to give player as a reward a Metal Detector Module, similarly as the Don had alternative way of acquiring Prototype Exploration Unit.

sidenote: Ford F-750 would really use to have the detector on its back, just saying

Interesting.

There are mods available that have built in metal detectors.

Not absolutely necessary as in most cases the item to be found is in visual proximity to start site and can be collected and deposited without using metal detector at all.
Same applied to Imandra - once metal detector acquired as an addon and airplane parts located in the lake the first time, any subsequent trips while replaying a campaign, and location remembered and contract activated, can be retrieved without the metal detector.

In the latest update 19.1, the "need to be found/unlocked" flag has been turned to false, making its location in Kola unnecessary anymore, since the detector is unlocked from the start. As I presume (because I haven't tested it myself) player can still visit the upgrade zone in Kola and acquire a free copy of an addon that is free anyway, plus the mission that leads the player to the upgrade site is even more useless now.

@Nextej said in Metal Detector availability:

Since Season 8 brings back metal detecting mission introduced in Season 1, you "need" to use the Metal Detector Module in those new missions. raiderlink However to be able to install it, you first need to unlock it on Imandra map, which can be only accessed when another DLC is bought or via co-op, not an ideal position to put players in, especially when they want to only focus on Season 8.

Belozersk offers no ways of acquiring Metal Detector Module other than doing another region for that, so I'd propose to have additional contract before any of the metal detecting starts to give player as a reward a Metal Detector Module, similarly as the Don had alternative way of acquiring Prototype Exploration Unit.

Agreed, locking the Metal Detector Module behind Imandra access isn't ideal for Season 8 players. Adding a contract in Belozersk to earn the module would be a great solution. Let's make it accessible for everyone.

@Harry-B-0 Sorry for late response, they already changed the unlocking conditions for the Detector way back when the Season 8 was released, now the Detector is unlocked from the start and doesn't require anything (which is not ideal solution to my liking to be clear).